Hey guys! Ok so I’m working on my T-trak modules. I’m trying to work out how to place the buildings and could use some advise. I’m going for a rte 66 vibe around New Mexico where the road and tracks go side by each for a while. I believe the Gallup area is like this. My city isn’t Gallup, I’m just looking to get people to think of that area when they see the modules. So the station is the only building that cannot be moved at this point, that is permanent. I want to be able to see the storefronts, but ideally the tracks would be behind the buildings. I am planning on using backdrops so flipping the buildings around is not ideal. I also was a road through the town but can handle if only one lane is visible, I’m thinking that’s going to be how it will have to be behind the station. The cars at the station are sitting in on my planned parking lot, but that isn’t in stone, I could make it elsewhere. Anyone have any ideas on how I can place the buildings to give me a realistic road through town with a town in place. Oh and I purposely am using 50’s style and modest style buildings as that’s kinda what it looks like out there. Here is the modules with the buildings laid out in a “test” setting. The blank grey plastic sheet is actually this I just haven’t built it yet.
I like to 'Follow the tracks" myself. You asked...here are my thoughts... From left to right.... Leave Dennys where it is. Move the next building to the right...about where the blank 'slab' is. Move the blank slab just unto the light colored module. Move the smaller building to the right...just before the train station. Move the 2 buildings on the left of the last module closer to the gas station. Leave the train station parking lot where it is. From right to left.... Bring the road into town from the right along the tracks...swinging it out to go straight behind the train station parking lot. Curve the road back towards the track after the station. Let the road follow the tracks right out of town in front of the Dennys. Play with the buildings until they look pretty good as far as placement. It will look fine to just have empty field behind the buildings and in front of the backdrop. You could also bring a secondary road in from the back and in front of the gas station and connect to the main road. JMO....but then again...I think weird....lol.
I used some masking tape to make a road. Temp of course. I moved the station parking lot to beside the station, and the road is directly in front of the station. I’m thinking of raising that area so the platform is “sidewalk level” and have a bus stop right in front of the station. It would also give some depth and visual interest to the module. I moved the buildings around a bit like you suggested... I think this is what you were going for anyway. What’s the take on version 2.0?
I'm liking it Retape it with the road curving back down to the tracks on the left side of the station. It would look better if those 4 bussinesses on the left had some 'out front' parking areas....JMO
I just found my Dairy Queen model as well, that’s supposed to go here. It’s late and I need to sleep, I will experiment more tomorrow.
IMO the road looked better in the first set of photos. Maybe try swapping the Denny’s to the far side closer to the station (since newer construction would probably center around the station anyway) and have it at the end of a T-section. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I originally tried that and the Denny's is too big which doesn't leave any room for a road. If I placed the building backwards it would kinda work but you would not see the building all that well. While the rear of Denny's is interesting I don't feel it will fit facing the tracks and not the road. I may move the DQ to the spot where the car lot is and move that to the other side making a "new" side to the town and an "old" side.
OK this is an area I have never been good at. I want a 3 lane road through town, how wide should I make the road? At times there will be a center turn lane, at other times a bus lane right in front of the station.
For modules I would suggest using .030 thick styrene for the road. You can get it in 24" long packages for fewer seams. You don't have any grade crossing in you plan which makes things simpler. What seams you end up with can be hidden with modelers putty and of course painting. I use reefer gray to paint my roads. For striping I use Builders in Scale products. They are HO but I think they look just fine on my N scale modules. Here are a couple of links to some of the road work I have done on modules. http://tokyo-in-nscale.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-highway.html http://tokyo-in-nscale.blogspot.com/2016/08/street-markings.html I'm not very good at weathering my roads, maybe some else here can offer advice on that.
OH and the buildings are: South to North Denny's Modern Shopping Center Car lot Hardware store Station Billboard sign Run down vacant service station Dairy Queen Burger drive in Exxon Gas station
My plan for the road surface is to use water color paper. It will be good with the paints and other wet stuff needed to build the scenery as well as giving the asphalt some texture. It will also be easy to glue down and shape to the contours that are yet to exist on the modules.
Route 66 in Texas has the sort of jogs you're envisioning. See Adrian, Wildorado, or Groom. Usually the town was platted out leaving room for railroadside industry, then the highway department acquired right of way adjacent to the railroad later, so the S-curve is at the boundary of the original town plat. Usually your through lanes are 12' and your center turn lane is 14'-16', so that's about 3 inches at 1:160. Older stuff was narrower... 10' was common up to the mid-1930s, while 11-footers, like this underpass in Albuquerquue, were built into the early 1950s. Check out this stretch in Oklahoma, which uses the original 22' slab for westbound traffic and puts eastbound traffic on a newer 36' roadbed (two 12' lanes with 2' and 10' shoulders).
Ok so I moved the buildings around again. The car lot went to the north and the DQ came south. And I changed the angle of the road to give the shopping center a parking lot. Across from the station is a good place for backdrop buildings but I don’t have any right now. what do you all think? Does this look like it could be a realistic section of somewhere USA?
Can you make one or two of the modules 6 inches wider? That would let you put the buildings across from the station with plenty of parking.
Not really on these modules without rebuilding the entire thing. These are Masterpiece Modules and are keyed together. Plus the back of the module has the electrical connections needed for powering the module. I have been considering my next set or purchased or hand made modules being a bit deeper so that I can have more variety in scenery or trackage. Also with the modules at this depth it gives me a 3" channel between when I use my turnaround modules and make a loop. I dont have any 90° turn modules or balloon modules so I need to have that spacing for the wiring to sit. It's all good, I found a couple backdrop buildings I like, I just need to get some free $$$ to buy them.
